Bedford run for second title falls short Bedford's run for second title falls short

Monday

Mar 13, 2017 at 1:44 PMMar 14, 2017 at 10:35 AM

Mike Rosenbergbedford.sports@wickedlocal.com

Vin McGrath never makes sectional or even league championships a team objective.

"If you make those things your goals, it’s really hard to measure how successful you actually were," The Bedford High boys basketball coach said. "We keep the focus on trying to maximize our potential in small increments – even just trying to win that drill in practice. It builds on itself from there."

On Saturday night, the sixth-seeded Buccaneers were less than three minutes away from winning two sectional championships in a row. But top-seeded Watertown (20-20 withstood two prodigious Buccaneer runs and emerged with a 59-52 victory and a trip to the state semifinals in the TD Garden.

Watertown seemed like an immovable object during Bedford’s tournament appearances in the 2000s, but the Raiders were not involved in Bedford’s 2010 or 2016 sectional runs. And in 2015 the Bucs defeated the Raiders handily in an early round.

But Coach Steve Harrington’s 2017 team was the top seed, and the Bucs knew they would need to play an outstanding game to emerge with the title.

Bedford trailed 31-21 following two quarters of offensive frustration. The Bucs missed 16-of-23 attempts from the field – 10-of-12 in the second quarter after eight turnovers in the first. They also missed all seven of their 3-point shots, as Watertown defended the perimeter effectively.

Meanwhile, the Raiders were shooting almost 50 percent, and over 50 from outside the arc, draining 7-of-13 attempts. They had only six turnovers in the half and looked like they were in total control.

"I didn’t really feel like we were down 10 because they had shot so well, and we didn’t think they would be able to sustain that," McGrath said. "We still had a whole half to go. You play the first half to try and win the second half."

Watertown scored the first basket of the third quarter before the Bucs began their run, culminating at 15-5 with three minutes to play. Jack Cowan scored two straight when he converted steals into layups. Cam Shelmire scored six, including 4-of-4 from the line. Malachi Hazelton and Casey Millar put back offensive rebounds.

But just as important was the Bedford defense. Watertown shot just 6-of-16 in the quarter, and had to sit big men John Corte and Vondre Chase with four fouls each.

After Shelmire hit Bedford’s first 3-pointer with 1:08 to play to cut the lead to two, the game’s MVP, Raider junior guard Julio Fulcar, rescued his team’s title hopes as he scored the last five points of the quarter.

Trailing 45-38, the Bucs closed the gap in a hurry with Cowan and Shelmire making it 47-46 less than two minutes into the quarter. The Raiders’ Jayden Hairston and Bedford’s Malachi Hazelton traded baskets twice, and Bedford trailed 51-50 with five minutes to play.

That score didn’t change until Cowan drove the baseline for a layup with 2:43 remaining to put Bedford ahead for the first time since three minute remained in the first quarter.

Each team had opportunities. Watertown missed three free throws, a 3-point shot and committed two turnovers.

Bedford missed four shots before Panayiotis Kapanides, who kept Bedford in the game with 10 first-half points, fouled out on a charging call.

Watertown scored the last eight points of the game. The biggest momentum-breaker was a second-chance basket. John Korte missed a 3-point attempt.

But Hairston grabbed the offensive rebound - the Raiders' eighth of the second half - and this time Fulcar was on target from outside the arc. Then Cowan was whistled for an offensive foul as he attempted to tie the game underneath. After Fulcar scored to make it 56-52, Hazelton was also called for charging as he maneuvered for a shot in the paint. In the last minute, Bedford had three more shot attempts but they were more of the desperation variety, while the Raiders added three free throws.

"It changed the momentum of the game," McGrath said of the offensive charge calls. "It’s tough because it seems like the way it’s being called gets changed, and it comes down to how you can adjust to that."

The Bucs were led by senior Cam Shelmire, playing what turned out to be his final game, with 14 points, all but two in the second half. Cowan scored 13, including two straight baskets off steals that helped ignite the third-quarter comeback. Hazelton added a double-double, 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The shoe was on the other foot in the sectional semifinals March 7.

Leading 48-47 with five minutes remaining, the Buccaneers blanked the Newburyport Clippers for the next four-and-a-half minutes, battling to an surmountable two-possession lead to win, 56-52.

The Bucs exploded to an early 10-0 lead but couldn't sustain the attack, and the Clippers gradually took over the contest, pretty much controlling things until the closing minutes of the third quarter, when the Bucs went on an 8-3 run. Then they scored the first two baskets of the fourth, and the tide turned.Newburyport, leading 43-40 after three periods and by as many as eight points at times in the third, made 16-of-37 attempts over those 24 minutes. In the fourth quarter the Clippers were 4-of-11 with six turnovers.

Shelmire took over the offense in the fourth with three field goals and three free throws, as he repeatedly posted up successfully. Senior point guard Tim Cowen added four, including an electrifying coast-to-coast layup off a defensive rebound to give Bedford a 50-47 lead with less than three minutes to go.

Most of the game was an offensive struggle for the Buccaneers, who made only five 3-point field goals and missed 32-of-49 shot attempts.

But two things kept them close: Hazelton, who had a double-double in three quarters (he finished with 18 points and 12 boards) and foul shooting. Bedford finished with a ridiculous 17-3 advantage from the line.

Hazelton led all scorers, hitting 6-of –13 and 6-of-7 from the line.

McGrath lauded his six seniors.

"Obviously it’s going to be hard to replace a backcourt like Cam and Tim," he said. "We got great minutes off the bench from Thomas Kimmell and Colin Doyle. And even though Jake Eliason and Matt Harrington didn’t play a lot of minutes, having six guys at practice with experience is a huge benefit. If we don’t have all of them, we can’t practice successfully, and then we can’t play successfully."

McGrath has now coached nine post-season games in his first two years – almost half a regular season.

"We got a lot of good things out of this year - a lot of kids grew up and became good basketball players- and good people," he said.